Merriel Shelton
Pfc./Cpl. Merriel "Snafu" Shelton was one of Eugene Sledge's fellow soldiers. He got his nickname from his rather disturbing demeanor. History and description Snafu was born in Louisiana. He enlisted in the Marines at some point, and served along with Burgin on Cape Gloucester. Peleliu Snafu is first seen in a cabin with De L'Eau and Burgin. He is later seen supervizing new recruits Eugene Sledge, Bill Leyden, and Robert Oswalt clean oil drums. He later participates in the Battle of Peleliu, where he is later seen prying a dead Japanese soldier's jaw right off the skull to get some gold teeth right in front of Eugene Sledge. Snafu is later part of the Airfield assault, though he pays almost no major role in this episode. He asks Sledge for a smoke, which Sledge obliges. It is here that Snafu gives Sledge the nickname "Sledgehammer". Bloody Nose Ridge He later becomes part of the marines that fight in the Peleliu hills led by Capt. Haldane. At one time, Snafu throws rocks into the partially destroyed cranium of a dead Japanese soldier. It is here that we see Sledge almost getting reduced to Snafu's level, about to cut off another Japanese corpse's jaw. Snafu stops him, maybe because he doesn't want to let Sledge become like him in a glimpse of humanity, even though all he says is that there are germs that spread diseases in the corpses, so Sledge cuts off a patch instead. Snafu is then seen going back to Pavavu with the rest of his unit, and he is presumably one of the soldiers swimming just off the shores of Pavavu. Okinawa Snafu's unit is later called upon to assist in the Battle of Okinawa, where Snafu is first seen exchanging his old poncho for replacement Pvt. Peck's poncho which leads to some problems later. He is the same as he always is. Eventually, Snafu watches as Hamm is killed in a botched suicide attempt by Hamm's fellow replacement Pvt. Peck, and in a rare show of emotion, he holds a poncho in remorse. Snafu is later seen with Sledge looking into a house where a crying baby and a dying woman are the sole survivors of a mortar shelling. Snafu leaves without learning of the woman, and Sledge walks out some time later. Snafu is later seen questioning Sledge about his cigarette lighter. Sledge then tells Snafu that it used to belong to Gunny Haney, slightly surprising Snafu and Burgin. Snafu is last seen leaving in a truck. Snafu is later seen celebrating Victory in Japan Day with his friends, Sledge and Burgin. Heading home Snafu, Sledge, and Burgin later return to their respectivie homes in a train. Burgin goes out first, and Snafu soon follows that night. While leaving, he noticeably wanted to talk to Sledge before doing so, but Sledge was fast asleep. Snafu instead then leaves the train holding his tongue and never speaking to his friends again for 35 years until Sledge released his memiors, "With the Old Breed At Peleliu and Okinawa". Snafu stayed in Louisiana and worked in the lumber business, married, and had three sons. Death Snafu died in 1993. Sledge served as one of the pallbearers in his funeral. Personality and Traits ".....PFC Merriel Shelton, an excitable, small-statured youngster from south Louisiana who had arrived with the same group of replacements as Burgin and Burke. Shelton was a whiz at poker, but otherwise his primary talents involved getting confused, lost, in trouble, and generally fouled up. He would argue about anything at the slightest opportunity, and when he was agitated or inebriated, all these tendencies grew more pronounced. They were also magnified by Shelton's inability to speak understandable English at such times. Origin of Snafu's Nickname "How much money you got?" someone asked one day as the cattle car bounced along toward Melbourne. Shelton laboriously counted his Australian currency for several minutes, then announced: "I t'ink I got maybe aroun' two pounds and ten ounces — plenty much for some drinks an' poker, eh?" "You know what you are, Shelton?" Burgin said. "You're just one big snafu lookin' for a place to happen." Everybody laughed, and the nickname stuck. Nobody in his mortar section ever called Merriel Shelton by his first name again. He was Snafu from that moment on." - Brotherhood of Heroes, Bill Sloan. Trivia * Snafu's personality is primarily based off of Sledge's descriptions of marines' disturbing trophy making in his memoirs. *Snafu was a Cape Gloucester veteran before episode 5, as seen in many scenes. *Snafu seems to have lost most of his humanity in episode 9. *The real Snafu Shelton bears a slight resemblance to Ira Hayes, the Pima flag raiser who fought on Iwo Jima. See Also Eugene Sledge Romus Valton Burgin Andrew Haldane Elmo Haney Category:Characters Category:Marines Category:Deseased Characters